Cauldron

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (February 2023)

This section contains an unencyclopedic or excessive gallery of images. Please help improve the section by moving relevant images beside adjacent text, in accordance with the Manual of Style on use of images. (Learn how and when to remove this template message )

A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot (kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and folklore.

Etymology

The word cauldron is first recorded in Middle English as caudroun (13th century). It was borrowed from Norman caudron^[1] (Picard caudron, French: chaudron). It represents the phonetical evolution of Vulgar Latin *caldario for Classical Latin caldārium "hot bath", that derives from cal(i)dus "hot".^[1]

The Norman-French word replaces the Old English ċetel (German (Koch)Kessel "cauldron", Dutch (kook)ketel "cauldron"), Middle English chetel. The word "kettle" is a borrowing of the Old Norse variant ketill "cauldron".^[2]

History

Cauldrons can be found from the late

Cauldrons have largely fallen out of use in the

The

The common translation for ding is often referred to as a cauldron. In Chinese history and culture, possession of one or more ancient dings is often associated with power and dominion over the land. Therefore, the ding is often used as an implicit symbolism for power. The term "inquiring of the ding" (Chinese: 问鼎; pinyin: wèn dǐng) is often used to symbolize the use of divination or for the quest for power. One example of the ding cauldron and gaining power over the traditional provinces of China is the Nine Tripod Cauldrons (whether regarded as myth or history).

Archeologically intact actual cauldrons with apparent cultural symbolism include:

• the Gundestrup cauldron, made in the 2nd or 1st century BC, found at Gundestrup, Denmark
• a Bronze Age cauldron found at Hassle, Sweden
• Ceremonial cauldrons from the ancient Armenian state of Urartu
• the cauldron where the
  Olympic Flame burns for the duration of the Olympic Games

• Dagda's Cauldron
• The Cauldron of Dyrnwch the Giant
• Pair Dadeni
• Cauldron of Hymir

Gallery

• 
  rice
• 
  A Witches'-caldron table
• 
  Three-legged iron pots being used to cater for a school-leavers' party in Botswana. Everyday cooking is done in the school kitchens.
• 
  The Garden of Earthly Delights, bird-headed monster or the "Prince of Hell" (close-up head), a name derived from the cauldron he wears on his head.
• 
  A cauldron pictured in the coat of arms of Padasjoki
• 
  Mušov cauldron. A Roman bronze cauldron found in 1988 in a Germanic chieftains grave in Mušov, Czech Republic dating to 2nd century AD.
• 
  African American

  woman and child outdoors, standing by boiling cauldron of water, c. 1901.
• 
  Execution cauldron at Deventer (Netherlands)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cauldrons.

Look up cauldron in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Chaldron, an obsolete spelling of 'cauldron', an English measure of dry volume.
• Alfet
• Fire pot
• Eldhrímnir
• Gulyásleves
• Hassle
• Kama
• List of cooking vessels
• Olympic flame
• Potjiekos
• Sacrificial tripod

References

1. ^
   ISBN 0-19-283098-8
   ). p. 67.
2. ISBN 0-19-283098-8
   ) p.252.
3. ISBN 0-7607-1716-8
   .
4. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6
   .